The Biblical story of Jonah is usually best remembered for the bit with the chucking a guy into the sea and his getting swallowed by a giant fish. To be fair, that’s strong material – the action, the drama…

But what I found most interesting in the book is the over-arching moral theme of the narrative. A man is told, quite clearly, to do something. Said man actively chooses to disobey the instruction, going to considerable lengths to try to escape the consequences of the decision. Those consequences soon catch up with him, and he ultimately reaches the goal he was expected to – though not without being argumentative and, frankly, annoying about the whole thing.

Obvious metaphor? Jonah is all of us – well, certainly me – and we all have a number of Ninevehs to confront; challenges we want to avoid or at least only observe from a distance, but which require our involvement and commitment if we are to make any progress with our lives.